


The Great Escape

by kassandra_divina_trevelyan



Series: The Andromeda Rewrites [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Flirting, Rescue Missions, Sexual Tension, investigating the Roekaar murders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 19:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20019694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kassandra_divina_trevelyan/pseuds/kassandra_divina_trevelyan
Summary: Back in Kadara, Reyes approaches Esme for a favor in investigating the series of murders capturing the attention of all those in Kadara Port. Esme agrees to lend her assistance as Reyes is her only Kadaran ally. At least, that's what she tells herself to rationalize why she keeps coming back for more of the amber-eyed, confident smuggler.(Mostly canon-compliant with little divergences for more Reyes content)





	The Great Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @queen-among-writers  
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Y9QFtVWHb0t6tjeCfkMLJ

The Nomad rolled up to a small building nestled in the badlands of Kadara and parked, allowing for Esme and her companions, Liam and Cora, to hop out alongside her. Keen eyes darted around for any signs of prying eyes or danger in the vicinity while Esme stealthily vaulted onto the stairs and headed for the doorway. Using her omni-tool, Esme patched a call through to Reyes and waited for him to pick up on the other end.

"Reyes, I'm at the crime scene." Esme revealed when she heard his voice on the other line and tapped into SAM's override protocols to pry open the door. The automatic door opened with a creak and revealed a mostly neat crime scene.

"Great. I've got intel on our dead guy. Krogan male went by the name of Zear. His frontal plate was pried off before he was shot to death." Reyes supplied and Esme assumed the body was deeper in the compound since she didn't see it.

"Poor bastard," Esme sighed, grimacing at the thought. Whoever murdered Zear intended to make him suffer by prying off the frontal plate and that type of sadistic detachment made Esme much more eager to get them off the street before they discovered another body.

"They were making a point. Not someone you want just walking around." Liam interjected himself into the conversation that seemingly was between Esme and Reyes, reminding Esme that she had company. Reyes hummed in what Esme assumed was agreement with Liam's point.

"Do your scanning thing. Look for anything that might lead us to the killer." Reyes directed and Esme nodded, opening her omni-tool to access her enhanced scanning capabilities. As Esme prepared to ready her scanner, she heard Reyes clear his throat on the other side of the line and waited. "Ryder, got word from one of my colleagues… Vehn Terev made it off Kadara. He's a free man—thanks to you." Reyes informed Esme and she felt some pride for a successful mission completed, but she knew that Reyes' assistance was integral to Vehn's escape from Sloane's clutches.

"You helped, a little." Esme acknowledged, a small chuckle escaping her. She heard Reyes' trademark chuckle and smiled, completely distracted and missed how Cora and Liam exchanged looks with each other.

"Always nice to be recognized." Reyes remarked huskily and Esme swore she could hear that crooked grin of his within his words, which made her fan at her face lightly. She turned around when she realized Cora and Liam were staring at her in confusion. Esme cleared her throat and pulled out her scanner attached with SAM while keeping Reyes patched in through their call, in case she discovered anything of significance. Walking into the doorway, Esme immediately picked up on the trail of blood spatter coating the floor. She glanced at her screen to see there were two genetic signatures found by SAM's enhanced scanning: krogan and angaran.

_"_ _These footprints are distinctly angaran."_ SAM chimed in through her omni-tool for her and Reyes to hear. Esme glanced over at Liam and Cora to see they were also attuned to the new information.

"I count at least… three attackers. The tracks make it look like an ambush." Esme remarked as she knelt down to study the footprint patterns SAM pointed out hidden in the blood spatter across the floor. Sure enough, the footprints became clearer with closer inspection. The genetic report from earlier popped back up on her omni-tool to remind Esme that angaran DNA was present along with the footprints. That meant the footprints weren't faked. As a former recon specialist with her old Alliance peacekeeping force, Esme learned her honed skills of analyzing clues and bits of information to piece together in a conclusive form of intel.

"Fits the Roekaar profile." Esme murmured but simply finding angaran footprints would be considered circumstantial and those could 'belong' to whoever discovered the body. "It's a start." Esme declared and her tone implied for Liam and Cora to look for any clues they wanted Esme to investigate in more depth. She watched Liam and Cora fan out. Esme walked over to the biggest piece of evidence, the body, and knelt next to it. She scanned the body while crinkling her nose from the smell of rotting flesh.

"Angaran blood… matches your Roekaar theory, Reyes." Esme pointed out while examining the report flashing up on her omni-tool screen. She glanced up at the others, who were wandering around but still listening.

_"_ _DNA cannot identify political affiliations."_ SAM interjected and Esme nearly rolled at her eyes at SAM's comment. Sometimes her AI acted and sounded more human than AIs were meant to, but Esme was usually endeared by SAM's odd humanity. Esme floated around the compound, scanning different objects of potential interest. At one point, Esme picked up a datapad that Zear owned and read through the messages for any information she might uncover. A small part of her felt a little grimy for going through a dead man's things but she needed to deliver justice.

"Keep scanning. We need hard evidence." Reyes instructed while Esme scanned the remainder of the interior. Other than the footprints, Esme hardly considered any of the mundane items she spotted around the compound to be of worth. Turning back to the footprints, she realized that they lead back outside. She edged closer to the door, following the footprints to where they began outside. Since she was staring at the ground for the tracks, Esme nearly missed the crate resting right beside the door. She did glance up and spot something of significance resting along the edge of the crate: a bloody knife.

"A knife! The killer must have dropped it during the getaway." Esme declared and she tentatively approached the blade, her hand hovering over it. She wrapped her hands around the underside of the hilt and brought it closer when she noticed a specific detail on the knife. Squinting, Esme angled the blade to catch the light when she noticed what appeared to be a foreign language or some symbols etched into the metal of the bloodied blade. "Something's carved into the blade."

_"_ _It's Shelesh, the angaran trade language. 'A home filled with strangers becomes a prison."_ SAM translated ominously and Esme grimaced at the quote, instantly establishing a clear-cut connection to the Roekaar presence on Kadara and the murders. With each passing second, Esme grew more confident in the idea that the Roekaar were the perpetrators.

"Sounds pretty Roekaar." Esme nearly balked at how on the nose the message was for the Roekaar cause. Andromeda was their home and they felt imprisoned by the arrival of those from the Milky Way. Those sentiments inspired hatred, no doubt about it.

_"_ _This inscription, along with the DNA and footprints, supports the theory proposed by Mr. Vidal, Pathfinder."_ SAM concluded after some calculations and Esme sighed. Reyes was right about it all from the start.

_"_ _Ryder—glad you're here. I'm sure you've heard about the murders." Reyes simultaneously greeted and questioned Esme as she walked into the background, rising from his seat with an air of urgency. Esme grimly nodded, thinking about the bodies and the rumors swirling around Kadara. Besides the growing tensions between the Outcasts and the Collective, the murders were at the forefront of everyone's attention. People were tense and worried that they might be next or that their neighbor might be responsible for the carnage._

_"_ _There's a fresh body outside Kralla's. Some of the locals say it's the Charlatan's handiwork." Esme divulged and Reyes could see she didn't buy that explanation. The way her eyes glimmered with deep thought and underlying tension showed him that she had her doubts on that theory, which he agreed with. Reyes knew the Charlatan was not responsible for those kills and had some ideas of his own about who was truly involved._

_"_ _I don't buy it. The Charlatan's discreet, careful. Whoever did this wanted the bodies found." Reyes refuted and Esme felt inclined to agree with that. If the Charlatan was so secretive with their identity, then why would they be so blasé with these murders? She and Reyes were on the same page and were looking for someone else orchestrating the whole ordeal._

_"_ _Making a statement." Esme proclaimed unprompted and Reyes nodded in agreement. Posing the bodies in such a public place and manner was making quite the statement._

_"_ _But to who?" Reyes questioned, there were plenty of factions vying for control of Kadara and each of them were capable of committing murder for their agendas. The obvious answer was the person in control and Esme seemed inclined to believe that._

_"_ _The killer could be unhappy with how Sloane's running things." Esme theorized and she felt that motive could fit, albeit a little simplistic. However, conditions in Kadara were ripe for incidents like this to occur and people might see these murders as a way to throw Sloane off-kilter._

_"_ _Less than a third of the victims are Outcasts. No, if I was a betting man—and I am—I'd say it was the Roekaar." Reyes speculated, which caused Esme to stop for a moment. Reyes watched as she scrunched up her face in deep concentration and he averted his eyes when he realized he was staring a little too long._

_"_ _Why would Roekaar be in Kadara Port?" Esme wondered since Kadara hardly seemed like the place for a group that hated aliens to situate themselves. She and her crew hadn't pursued the Roekaar since Harval. However, Reyes' certainty in his theory suggested that he knew something she didn't and Esme would like to be kept out of the dark. There were too many others who were willing to withhold information from her, so Reyes should understand she wanted all the information before she agreed to anything._

_"_ _It's angaran-built and before Sloane, angaran-run. I think the Roekaar came here looking for new recruits and things got out of hand." Reyes described and Esme remembered vaguely hearing that from somewhere that she couldn't remember. She mulled over that information and she could see a motive piecing together, but something bothered her._

_"_ _And the angaran victims? How do they fit into your theory?" Esme inquired, seeing that piece of the puzzle didn't quite fit upon first inspection and she wanted to make certain that all her facts aligned before accepting the theory. That's why she didn't blindly embrace the idea of the Charlatan being the mastermind behind the murders._

_"_ _I did some digging. All of the deceased angara were public Milky Way sympathizers." Reyes informed and Esme gasped silently. That… that would explain things quite clearly. She ran through the known victims and the bold staging of the murder in the crowded marketplace and analyzed the theorized motive Reyes presented._

_"_ _So the victims either were from the Milky Way-"Esme trailed off and she made eye contact with Reyes' knowing, amber eyes._

_"_ _-Or supported us. It's the only pattern I could find." Reyes concluded and Esme chewed on her lower lip in deep thought and concentration._

_"_ _An angaran port run by aliens would be a prime target for their cause." Esme mused, seeing how Reyes could be right. She trusted his intel's reliability and the motive would make sense for the Roekaar. They would see the befriending or kindness toward aliens from the Milky Way as a form of treason against their own kind. That sentiment would run strong among the Roekaar and serve as a good enough motive to murder. Esme had seen people murdered for less in her time as Pathfinder._

_"_ _Problem is, I've got no proof and the Resistance doesn't want to antagonize the Roekaar." Reyes sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and Esme sympathized with his frustration. There were plenty of times she bumped heads with the Nexus leadership over issues they wanted to ignore, more with Tann and Addison than Kandros and Kesh. Often times, Esme felt in the dark about the organization she was supposed to help lead._

_"_ _Guessing that's where I come in." Esme supposed and she glanced at Reyes for confirmation. Did he want her to convince Evfra to pursue the angle? Evfra was a tough man to convince, but Esme knew she could do it. She did hold some leverage in the bargaining situation._

_"_ _I need that fancy AI of yours to scan for evidence that could implicate the Roekaar. People are scared, Ryder. This is your opportunity to win friends in Kadara Port." Reyes whispered the last part and Esme mulled over how involved she was in his plan. Reyes needed her help and Esme was more than happy to oblige._

_"_ _I sound pretty integral to this plan." Esme remarked, seeing how the plan hinged on her agreement and her tech and her energy to expend for Reyes to prove his theory. She glanced over to Reyes and watched his reaction._

_"_ _SAM is integral. You're a bonus." Reyes corrected with a smirk and Esme clicked disapprovingly, which directly contrasted the light blush that peppered her cheeks hidden by the neon red light of the room. She leaned back with her hands settled on her hips. She was a 'bonus'? Did that mean what she thought it did?_

_"_ _Hey, I haven't agreed to help you yet." Esme lightheartedly teased and she waited for Reyes to suavely offer her another reason to help him. She already was sold, but she never tired of Reyes trying to pitch her for her help._

_"_ _I feel good about my chances." Reyes mused and Esme raised her brow at the grin he sported and the devilish twinkle in his eyes. Oh, he was a cocky one but Esme hardly minded; he was on target, after all. Reyes sat back down on the couch and gave Esme a nod, "One of the crime scenes isn't far. Give me a call when you get there." Esme gave a cheeky, two-fingered salute and a wink before she turned on her heel and marched out of the room, missing the widening of Reyes' grin._

"Let's pay our local Roekaar a visit." Reyes declared firmly, snapping Esme out of her distracted recollection of her memories. For a man who was just vindicated, Reyes seemed quite solemn when Esme expected triumph. That's the thing with Reyes, he always kept her guessing.

"You know where they are?" Esme inquired with astonishment and relief. She hardly explored the badlands by that point and the skirmishes between the Outcasts and the Collective were ongoing all across the map. Knowing where she needed to go was more efficient than hoping to stumble onto the right place.

"I wasn't sitting on my ass this whole time. I'm looking at the place right now." Reyes teased and Esme physically perked up. Reyes' talents were truly coming in handy then and she could probably kiss him right about then since he kept her from aimlessly wandering the badlands.

"Send me the coordinates. These murders stop today." Esme commanded and she heard a hum of approval from the other end. The call ended between her and Reyes, but the chirp of coordinates reaching her omni-tool filled the lack of conversation. Esme vaulted over the railing and landed down into the faint patch of grass crunching below her feet. She jogged to the Nomad and climbed into the driver's seat, ready to deal with the Roekaar presence growing in Kadara. Liam and Cora loaded back into the Nomad as Esme launched off toward the rumored encampment of the Roekaar. From the limited map she had programmed into the Nomad, the coordinates placed her past the sulfuric springs SAM warned her about when she first stepped foot into the Kadaran badlands and into uncharted territory. She pulled onto the road made solely by tire track marks repeatedly dug into the dirt, leaving the impressions behind. Esme switched the Nomad to all-terrain mode with a flip of the switch and she steadily increased the pressure on the gas pedal, zooming through the scenery of the badlands at speeds that left Cora and Liam a little pale in the face and gripping something for support in the backseat.

As she drove, Esme halfheartedly examined the passing by landscape of the badlands, complete with steam rising off the sulfuric bodies of water. She avoided driving into the water since being near the lakes' edges could induce negative symptoms to the toxicity of the water. However, the road away from the waters was rocky, which required Esme get a little creative with her off-roading over rocky hills and along the side of mountains. It was truly a miracle that neither Liam nor Cora threw up in the backseat.

Following the navpoint coordinates for a solid ten to twenty minutes, Esme rolled up to a compound built into the side of a mountain and hidden from the main road. The location screamed murderous gang hideout in bold, capitalized letters from the eerie vibe radiating from it. She avoided pulling her weapon right away, even though Esme knew gripping her favorite melee weapon she recovered from the Hyperion's storage recently when visiting her brother in stasis. Esme walked up to the door and opened it to find the room strangely empty, worsening the bundle of anxiety that awakened by showing up outside the compound. Where was Reyes?

"Reyes should be here." Esme muttered aloud, not realizing she had at first. Her eyes darted around and hoped that Reyes would meet them on location. He might be running behind or he might've gotten there first, but Esme highly doubted Reyes would explore without backup. Reyes was crafty and not the type to walk in somewhere unprepared.

"Keep it in your pants. Or out. Whatever." Liam huffed but his tone turned jittery when Esme glanced over her shoulder at him. Her expression remained mostly neutral, but her eyes were sharp enough to cut a man. Her jaw clenched and a small part of her wanted to hiss at Liam, inquiring as to what his problem was. But she would save that for after the mission since the mission presented a time-sensitive outcome.

"That's not-" Esme growled when the door burst open to a squad of angarans, armed to the teeth, who converged upon Esme and her companions. Esme held her arms up in surrender, knowing that she couldn't take them in their current setting without risking serious injury or, god forbid, casualties. Liam and Cora begrudgingly followed her lead on that one.

"Don't move!" The armed angarans commanded and Esme stared down the muzzles of several rifles trained onto her and her companions. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and unable to help herself, her lips quirked up into the ghost of a smirk in the face of danger.

"Were we too loud?" Esme inquired, but the guards were far from pleased. A couple of them wanted to gun the alien intruders down where they stood, but they recognized who she was. Farah should decide what they would do with the meddlesome human Pathfinder and how to send a message that the Roekaar meant business.

"Shut up! Farah will deal with you." One of the guards growled while menacingly jerking his gun toward Esme, missing how the muscles in her body twitched in subdued reaction. Esme nearly launched herself at him to disarm the guard out of pure instinct but held herself back. Esme relented and she allowed the angarans. The guards marched Esme, Liam, and Cora down into the cave with guns to their backs and growls directed their way. As Esme marched across the bridge, she spotted a group of angara residing at the bottom and surrounding who she assumed was their leader, dressed in yellow. Their leader, Farah, marched over to the stairs to intercept her new prisoners. She glared at them, studying the face of the human pathfinder, and she clenched her fists when Esme refused to back down her own glare.

"I don't need to tell you what happens next." Farah ominously remarked and Esme knew she had a pretty good idea of what Farah and her men did to those who crossed them. However, Esme knew she wouldn't be an added tally to their body count. A small part of her remembered Reyes and she knew there were two possibilities: he was already here and captured or he hadn't come yet.

"Settle down. We only came to talk." Esme responded calmly, not betraying any emotions she felt rolling through her mind. Her expression remained blank, even when she felt the hot breath of one of the angaran guards brush against her neck and the muzzle pressing into her back in a silent threat. _Watch your mouth, outsider._

"We don't talk with outsiders." Farah snapped angrily and Esme could see how tension simmered underneath the surface from the pure hatred in her eyes. "You'll bleed, just like the others" Farah decided and she lifted a knife, identical to the one Esme found at the murder site, into the air. The blade glinted in the limited lighting cruelly and Esme's expression hardened at the sight of the blade. She wasn't afraid, more she was angry.

"So, it's true. You murdered innocent people." Esme narrowed her eyes at Farah and she curled her lip in disgust, earning the knife's point directed at her. She stared down the blade without flinching; she knew fear would only make the situation worse for her.

"Invaders and sympathizers are not innocent. I will protect my home." Farah proclaimed while the guards moved around Esme, Liam, and Cora with their weapons still trained on them. They approached Farah's side and Esme moved an inch closer.

"Don't let your hate poison you. We can coexist." Esme reasoned calmly while she scanned her surroundings for literally anything that could give her a moment to arm herself. Any time now, she could use a distraction or something. She didn't suppose Liam or Cora have any tricks up their sleeves. Farah seemed disgusted by Esme's call for unity between the Milky Way aliens and the angarans as if they weren't parasites.

"Like here on Kadara? Sloane lies to my people and uses them for power." Farah interrogated and Esme quirked her lips into a mix of shock and a conceding scowl at the mention of Sloane. Sloane was not the best representation of the Milky Way but as they say, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Esme kind of wanted to agree with Farah but that probably would make things worse for her and her companions. Then, Esme realized that Farah grouped her and Sloane in the same category and she grit her teeth.

"I'm not Sloane." Esme hissed out, quite pissed by the comparison. She was nowhere near Sloane and she wished the Roekaar would stop being such stubborn assholes about everything. Both sides hated the kett and their inhumane experiments or whatever else they were doing, which should be their main focus instead of fighting each other.

"You are all the same." Farah growled and she lifted her hand, ready to finish these aliens for trespassing when she groaned in pain. Farah grabbed at her hand and Esme realized, with a delayed reaction, that Farah had been shot. The knife she held in her hand skidded out of her grasp and Esme heard the clatter of footsteps against the stairs.

"Not so fast!" Reyes exclaimed as he swiftly sprinted down the stairs with a weapon trained on Farah, daring her to make a move. Farah leaned back when Reyes stopped next to Esme and glanced at her, glad she seemed unharmed. Her companions were unharmed too, improving their chances if a gunfight broke out. His amber eyes shone with concern and Esme raised her brow at him. Despite her slight annoyance at him not showing up earlier like he promised, Esme thanked her lucky stars that Reyes was coming to her and her companion's rescue.

"You're late," Esme remarked, ribbing him a little. She sounded stern but her eyes conveyed relief, which Reyes could clearly see.

"I've got a good reason. You'll see in three…" Reyes declared and his countdown sent Farah scrambling in panic and fearing what the smuggler had up his sleeve. Reyes raised his weapon to hone on Farah but still remained by Esme's side.

"Don't just stand there!" Farah screeched at her forces and they began to mobilize behind her with weapons. Cora and Liam nervously bristled when they realized that they were outgunned with their weapons stripped from them. Esme glanced at Reyes from her peripheral and she could use his reason to kick in right about then. Reyes watched Farah with a trained gaze and his finger twitching against the trigger. Farah narrowed her eyes at him but Reyes didn't waver.

"Two…" Reyes declared and Esme braced herself while her eyes never wavered from Farah, awaiting for danger to strike. Her whole body tensed in preparation to hit the ground.

"Kill them!" Farah bellowed and before any of her men could attack, the hideout was rocked when an explosive went off. Bodies collapsed and Esme covered her eyes, glancing over at Reyes who did the same thing. When the smoke cleared, Reyes leveled his gun at whatever of the Roekaar forces might remain.

"Still mad?" Reyes inquired as Esme shook her head, lunging forward when she spotted a pistol lying a few feet away.

"No." Esme decided. She expertly tucked into a roll as she scooped up the angaran pistol and leveled it up at the angarans scrambling around to regain their bearings in the aftermath of the bomb exploding. With two quick clicks of the trigger underneath her deft finger, Esme released two consecutive, fatal headshots in the nearest angarans. With trained precision, Esme surged forward and whirled around to take out another three angarans within a matter of ten seconds in the same fashion. She grinned when she watched the five remaining angarans dart for cover and how they crumpled as she picked them off one by one. The cave fell silent as the Roekaar presence in Kadara was effectively eliminated and the murders were bound to stop. Esme placed the pistol down on a nearby crate gently and she tightened her ponytail with her free hands. She picked up her assault rifle that the angarans confiscated and she expected Liam and Cora to do the same. Glancing over her shoulder, Esme settled her sights on Reyes who lowered his weapon. He took in her heavy breathing but the exhilarated twinkle in her eyes from the adrenaline bursting through her system; Reyes was quite impressed with Esme's skills. He encountered plenty of skilled marksmen in his line of work but Esme could put them all to shame with a weapon that didn't belong to her- an unfamiliar tool that she wielded with such comfort. Cora and Liam retrieved their respective weapons and searched for any important data on the Roekaar while Esme leaned against one of the crates and caught her breath. Once the cave was cleared, Esme decided that they should head back to the city limits. The foursome walked from the lower levels of the cave with Cora and Liam ahead of Esme and Reyes, after Esme gave them a look that signaled for them to go ahead of her. She and Reyes strolled up the stairs to their own pace. Esme adjusted her favorite assault rifle back onto her armor and Reyes clapped her on the shoulder.

"The streets of Kadara are safe again. You did good, Ryder." Reyes commented with a hint of pride in his voice directed toward Esme. She went out on a limb for him and managed to prove his theory about the Roekaar correct. For that, he owed her another favor. However, Reyes was finding out that he liked owing Esme favors because those kept her coming back. He shot his trademark crooked grin her way and released her shoulder as Esme walked in front of him. She stopped and turned to face him, still standing on the steps. "Don't worry, I'll let all the important people know who to thank."

"We make a good team." Esme corrected sweetly and she observed how a grin worked onto his face once more at her comment. 'We', a two-letter word that somehow made Reyes and Esme both feel jittery at the implicit connection within it. Esme knew that Reyes' assistance was vital to her successes in Kadara and she started to consider them as allies. Reyes caught up to her and stopped beside her.

"Careful—I'll start thinking you like me." Reyes cautioned with a chuckle, but his amber eyes told a different story. They were almost hesitant to Esme and that intrigued her. Esme inched closer to Reyes standing beside her and turned her head to face him. Esme knew that Liam and Cora were still a few feet away and watching the interaction between the two of them. She knew that they were growing suspicious of her eagerness to help Reyes and most likely shared their concerns with the others on the crew. She recalled Liam's comment from earlier that he attempted to pass off as a poorly-executed joke and the sliver of what she now realized was jealousy laced between his words. However, they were millions of miles away from her mind at that moment. Esme leaned in a little closer and she fluttered her lashes unintentionally at Reyes.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Esme questioned in a soft whispery voice that made Reyes speechless for a second. That, coupled with the softness in Esme's eyes made the impossible happen within Reyes. Reyes discreetly swallowed at the lump in his throat and glanced down at Esme, grinning at her words.

"Depends… Don't be a stranger, Pathfinder." Reyes whispers lowly to Esme and she barely kept back from wetting her lips with her tongue at his tone implying something more. Her breath silently hitched in her chest and her eyes locked onto his once more, watching as Reyes walked toward the door. A grin spread across Esme's face as she watched him go and her grin widened when Reyes shot her another wink her way just like their first meeting. Esme crossed her arms and glanced down at the floor, drawing her lower lip between her teeth. She was already coming up with another reason to see Reyes Vidal and she figured that celebratory drinks for the success of the mission might suffice.


End file.
